Automatic coin assorter and register.



Patene. Dec. L??

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

E. W. MCPHEETERS. AuoMAfc com AssomER AND REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 14 1916.

E. W. MCPHEETERS.

AUTOIIIATIC COIN ASSOBTER AND REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I4, 191e.

Patented Dec. 1T, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. W. I'I/ECPHEEIERS.

AUIOMATIC COIN ASSGRTER AND REGISTER. APPLICATION FILED DEC. I4, me.

aend Dee. i918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

@ff-mov f te @die l t EDVIN V7. MCPHEETERS. OF ST. LOUIS. iHSSO'UR.

AUTOMATIC G01N ASSORTER AND REGSTER.

Specification of Letters ratent.

atented lli-ee. 7., 11mg.

Application led December 1/1, 1916. Serial No. 136.888.

he used in connection with railway cara.

adaptable in connection yVith the pay-asyou-enter System. and o may heused in show-houses where coins oli' certain denominations are depositedand Surh coins ot vari.- oue denominations when run through the apparatus will he properly registered.

A further object ot my inrentionis to' construct a device in which coinssuch as `nickels7 or dimes or penniesl may he depos ited. the same atterentering the lepository may be delivered into a rertain ehute and into adiQrilmtingY mor-hanism hf.' which the niolelzs. dimee. ot differentdiameter.y and penniee are aSSoi-ted and minvewd to separatecompartments. Tiiihen delivered these Separated `l:eine .re thendelivered to a, drawer or other eompartnwnt after having i'irst beenorouglit in contact with the reg isterinp; merhanism by wnivh each roinis registered; the register or indiraior showingy or indicating' thenumber ot 59". roins or fares passed through the apparatus before theyare deposited into the drawer.

r further objert ot mv invention io to constructv a device whichregisters the numiler of tart-.5 or admiesione paid hy means of Coinspassing' through the apparatu. and before surtir coins van he removedtrom the apparatus it registran dependine` upon its denomination tooperate the re .r in unite aceording' IV; for example. a fire-emit pievewill register one while a temeent pieve will reja .ter two. inal h r talregister t? rough the machine.

my ini'ention if, to

in t ie Same denomination as C. ten-rent pieve. so that each penny whenpassing thro g' i the i :whine will register the amount etten-rents ortwo fares and prevent the operator trom substituting pennies for dimes.Theae penniesv heine` deducted from the amount Supposed to he in thedrawer as @nown on the register .less of (bourse, the value ol' eaihroin which is one-cent unlessI the proper credit vfrom an auditor shown.

,hiy this apparatusy and system it will be utterly imposoihle to defraudthe eompan)7 aS ille coinsl deposited into the machine are properlyY reffibtered and the drawer must Contain tho amount as so indicated on theregister.

Figure 1, is a front View of mi* complete invention.

Fig. '2. is a top plan View ofthe same.

ig; i3. a vertieal Sectional View taken onthe line w ot' Fig. 4.

Fig. l'is a vertical seetional View oit the front oit the easing outaway.

.Fiel 5. is a Yertieal sectional View taken on the line Bw?) oi Fig. il.

Fig'. (i. is an enlarged detaii sertional i'iow ot a portion ot one otthe coin register cones showing the ('oin in relative position with theturn Stile. A

Fig. T. is a detail Yertiral seftional view ot one or" the registercones showing;` the relative position ot the oin chute and eoin `Luidelofated therein.

Fig. Si is a front View oi the eoin aesoreer Cone.

me'. l). a plan view ot' the large (foin register cone.

Fig. 10. a troni 'View ot the small roin register cone.

Fig. 1l(- a detail perspeetire View oi one ot the 'oin rhulis made useot.

ln rarryin.;r out ni); invention l provide n luitahle ea@ t ieli intoi-med preiierahiv rertanguiar in torni and volante ot tour sides: i2.a hot yom ri-i. a horizontal partition li. and an in iined top l5. lnthe top and rentrall)Y located on Vaid inelined top i5 ia looaed a c'oinreeeplarle lo whirh in Shape os" a tranaparent rylii'nlriial hodjiY madepreterahlv oi glaoe and held in rigid .position by potx` li (in the topol these posts and renting* upon the upper edge i the 'transparentcylindrical body is a casting which I will term as a coin cup 18. Thiscup is provided with a flange 19, a cup shaped portion Q0 and a conicaldownwardly projecting,r portieri 21 which has a central open-- and thesame be extracted from the recepy tacle.

rThe cup shaped portion Ois provided with a plurality of openings 24:which are of such diameter large enoughfto admit a coin. the size of anickel to pass therethrough7 but a coin of larger diameter cannot enter.

At the base ot the coin receptacle and in the horizontal portion of theinclined top is located a trap door 25, this door is centrallypivotally'mounted and supported on a rod or axle 26, the one edge of thedoor 25 provided with a. counter-weight 2T which normally holds the doorin horizontal and closed position.

The rod or axle QG-projects through the conical top and is provided witha handle 28 by which the trap door may be tilted as shown by dottedlilies in Fig, 3, when said handle is pressed upon by the finger and allof the coins lodging on this door will be permitted to pass beneath thetrap-door into a chute 29, and when the pressure of the linger isreleased from the khandle 2S the counter balance weight 27 will normallyreturn the trap-door to its normal position.

The chute 29 in which the coins from the Ycoin receptacle are depositedare conveyed downwardly hy gravity into a coin assorter 30, which isrotatably mounted on the short shaft or trunnion firmly connected ltoone sid-e of the casing, and 'on the hub of this coin assorter islocated a sprocket wheel 31 by which the assorter is rotated by themecha-A niszn hereinafter fully described. The assorter 30 is of conicalform its Ifront surface being' open with the exception of an inwardlyprojecting peripheral flange 32, the surface'ot which is provided with aplurality of elongated slots 33 of a size suiiicient to permit dimes,and pennies to freely pass therethrough but yet hold the nickels andcarry them upwardly to a point Where said nickels are permitted toautomatically by their o,wn gravity drop into a large coin chute 34, thedimes and pennies while the coin assortcr is in rotation being directedinto the small coin chute 35.

The construction' of the chute is clearly shown in the perspective viewof Fig. l1.

0n the horizontal partition 14 are mountis snpported a short horizontalshaft, on said shaft are mounted a pair of register cones 37 and 3S, thesame being arranged in opposite directions and between the same andattached to the shaft is a sprocket wheel 39 over which operates asprocket 'chain el@ which chain operates over a sprocket pinion '-llwhich is mounted on a shaft zleiztending through the casing and isprovided with a crank handle 43 by which the shaft together with thepinion is rotated. On this Ishaft is also mounted a sprocket pinion elover which a sprocket chain 45 is mounted which chain also operates overthe sprocket wheel 31 controlling the rotating movement ot' the coinassorter 30. 0n this shaft is also l mounted a ratchet wheel G withwhich cominunicates a ratchet pawl i7 allowing the shaft to be rotatedin but one direction.

By the. rotation of the crank shaft 43 the coin assorter 39 and theregister concs 37 and 39 are simultaneously rotated. The chute :29 inwhich the coins are deposited from the tr'ap door projects dov-.inwardlyand discharges the coins into the coin assorter at a point near thebottom tha-t indicated by the numeral 48. See Figs. 4 and The depositedcoins passing through the chut-e and enteringinto the coin assorterAwill be properly assorted during the rotation of the coin assorter, thedimes and pennies being of smaller diameter and thinner than the nickelswill freely pass through the slots 33 formed in the flange of theassorter and into the chute 35, which chute is' located below thelower'periphery ot' the assortcr, the sides of said chute projectingpartially upwardly so as to prevent coins from paming beyond the chuteentrance and these coins are then delivered through the chute 35 intothe registericone 38 which is' .likewise provided with a flange 49arranged with elongated slots 50 of a size sullicient to permitapproximately one-third ot the diameter of the coin to project whichprojecting end of each coin is designed to con# tact with an arml of theturn-stile 51.

loving the rotation of the coin assorter 30 the nickels which are heldinthe slots 33 will automatically by their own gravity drop in the chute34- and are conveyed into the registercone 37 g its surface beingprovided with a flange and a plurality of slots .through which aportionof each coin'will project.

By this mechanism the nickels and the dimes and pennies are separated,the nickels conveyed to the cone 37 while the dimes and pennies areconveyed'to the cone 38. In`

order that each coin may he properly registered and operate theindicator showing the registration of each coin I provide in the casinga standard register 52, the'internal construction of which is not beingmade a part of this invention nor embodied in the claims. To thisregister however, the turnstile mechanism is attached which turn-stilemechanism consists of a divided shaft 5?) suitably held in bearings andis provided with a large gear wheel 5l meshing with a gear `)inionlocated on the register shaft; on theI opposite end with a gea' wheel 5omeshing' with a gear wheel o'f the same size 5i' located on the registershaft, the detail of construction of the register not being made a partof this invention but made to operate in the manner previouslydescribed.

T he turn-Stiles being in relative position with the register cones asthat shownin F ig. (3. so that the coin projecting through the slotsformed in the liange of each cone will properly contact and advance thestile one notch forward thereby registering each coin as it contactswith the arm of the stile and moves it forward. As before stated therelative position is shown in Fig. 6.

After the coins have been properly sepaated and lodged into theirrespective register cones and after each of such coins has eeen carriedupwardly to the register cones and brought in contact with the arms ofthe urn-stile of the register such coins are then automat icallyreleased by gravity from their position and dropped into chutes 58 and59. rlhe nickels or iveecent pieces passing through the chute 58 aredirected into the coin drawer 60. The dimes and pennies which aredirected into the cone 38 are directed through the chute 59 into thecoin drawer (i0. rhis drawer being properly locked or it may be unlockedas found desirable so that the conductor in charge of the car may removethe coins and use them for change but nevertheless, each coin has beenproperly registered in the registering apparatus.

The chutes 54 and 85, 58, and 59 are properly held in position bybrackets 61, and to the upper edges of each of these chutes are.connected guides GQ, these guides are so positioned as to hold the coinafter it has-entered into the slot until it makes its register then thecoin is permitted to slip out of its position and drop into the chute atthe end ot' the guide. the general position is clearly shown. in Fig. 7.

The most essential feature of this invention is that every coin droppedinto the machine which passcs through the openings into the coin cupwhether they are live-cent pieces, ten-cent pieces or pennies will beregistered, that is the five-cent piece will register one fare while theten-cent piece or penny will register two fares each. and no matterwhether the ten-cent piece is hammered tlat or slightly enlarged willhave to come in contact with the turn-stile and register. lt is theintention th it the ,oins shall remain in the observation chamber .ifpennies are dropped in till an ollicial can manipulate the register' andgive the corr duclor in charge of the car a credit slip for thedifference of nine-cents registered in addition to each penny which willbe registered as a dime.

By this construction of apparatus it will be utterly impossible for theconductor or auditor in chargel to make a false registration or defraudthe company ol' any coins passing through the machine.

Having fully described my invention what l claim is:

l. An apparatus of the class described including an upper hollowasserter cone mounted for rotary movementv on a horizontal axis andprovided with an annular tlange having slots to permit coins of acertain diameter to pass through them and to carry upward coins of agreater diameter, a pair of upper chutes having their upper endsarranged interiori) and exteriorly of the said asserter cone in positionto receive coins therefrom, and a pair of lower hollow cones mounted forrotary movement on ahorizontal axis and having annular flanges providedwith coin slots, and a pair of chutes having their upper ends arrangedinteriorly of the lowerJ hollow cones.

An apparatus of the class described including an upper hollow assertercone mounted for rotary movement on a horizontal axis and provided witha vertical annular flange having slots to permit coins of a certain sizeto pass through them and to carry upward coins of a greater diameter, anupper pair of chutes having their upper ends arranged interiorly andcxteriorly of the said assorter cone, a pair of reversely arranged lowerhollow cones mounted for rotary movement on a horizontal axis and havingan annular flange provided with coin receiving slots arranged to carryupward coins'in a projecting position for operating registeringmechanism, and chutes arranged to receive the coins from the lowerhollow coins.

3. n apparatus of the class describedy ineluding an upper hollow conen'iounted for rotary movement on a horizontal axis and provided with anannular [lange having slots to permit. coins of a certain size to passthrough them and to carry upward coins of a greater diameter, ahorizontal. shaft, located below the assorler cone. reversely arrangedlower hollow cones mounted for rolary movement on the said shaft andprovided with annulai` [langes having coin slots for carrying coinsupward in a projecting position for operating registering mechanism. apair of chutes having their upper ends arranged nterorly-az1dexteriorlyof the assorto? @one and extending to and arranged to discharge coinsinto the loWeI` cones, gearing connecting the shaft with the uppernssorter cone7 and means for carrying the coins away from the lowerhollow cones.

www1

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inpresence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses ALFRED A. EICKS, WALTER C.v STEIN.

